While the American Hospital Association (AHA) expressed support for the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (OIG’s) proposed three-year extension for regulatory protections allowing hospitals to donate health IT to eligible physicians, it asked OIG to take it a step further and make such protections permanent.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced $1 billion in funding for round two of the Health Care Innovation Awards. Funding will support the evaluation of projects that test new payment and service delivery models to lower costs and improve care for Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries, according to the agency.

A recently released Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) guidance offers advice on how health information exchange organizations and health IT service providers can support providers in meeting EHR Meaningful Use Stage 2 transition of care measures.

The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) saw an increasing number of entities sign onto its EHR incentive program, reported Robert Anthony, CMS health insurance specialist, at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC’s) Health IT Policy Committee meeting on May 7. He added that the program's budget currently stands at $39 billion.

The Iowa senator who blocked the Senate confirmation of acting Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner backed down and lifted the hold he had placed on the nomination last month.

A one year extension of Meaningful Use Stage 2 would maximize its potential for success, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) declared to senators in a May 6 letter.

When used correctly, EHRs produce more accurate documentation leading to more complete coding, and ultimately, more accurate reimbursement claims, according to Sue Bowman, senior director of coding policy and compliance of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

This week’s developments include a proposed rule updating the inpatient prospective payment system, the first meeting of a federal patient safety group and a new effort to prevent the switch to ICD-10.